"Narrative lectionary" guides church through the Bible in 9 months

 Zion's worship team was introduced Wednesday to the narrative lectionary, a worship schedule first developed by the ELCA, a Lutheran denomination, and began using a new set of worship-planning resources that will expose our church to major stories in the Bible over the coming months.

 The narrative lectionary is a series of biblical readings that begins in Genesis and works its way through the Bible, focusing on key figures and stories.

 Rev. Keeler told the committee that the new resources will provide a weekly children's bulletin, an adult bulletin insert that explains the background of the biblical text upon which he preaches, relevant written prayer resources, and specially selected music that naturally accompanies the biblical text. We will also examine in the coming weeks ways that various church school classes -- in particular, those involving children -- can use lectionary-related materials.

 It's important that children hear the story over and over, Barb Smith, chair of the committee, said.

 In addition, the lectionary materials include weekly schedules of devotional readings that will guide those who use them through the connecting stories in the Bible. By the end of nine months, those who attend worship regularly and who use the devotional material will have read a vast majority of the Bible.

 Rev. Keeler said he will step off the lectionary cycle occasionally to handle specific pastoral situations and issues. For example, we will follow the lectionary reading schedule for the first three weeks of October, but will step off it Oct. 28 to focus on a baptism and the role of Christians friendship in our lives.